Can a tenant withhold rent for repairs in New York?

In New York, a court may stay an eviction for nonpayment or an action for rent over a condition that constructively evicts the tenant from part of the home or endangers life, health or safety, but only if the tenant deposits the rent then due with the court clerk. The stay may rest on a municipal notice or order to remove a nuisance or violation or to make repairs, or on proof of the condition itself, and where there is such a notice or order the landlord has the burden of disproving the condition. No stay is granted where the condition was created by the willful or negligent act of the tenant or the tenant’s agent. The stay may be vacated on three days’ notice if the tenant fails to deposit the rent with the clerk within five days after it is due while the case is pending. During the stay the court may release deposited money to a contractor or materialman, or to a municipal department, to pay for necessary maintenance and repairs when the landlord is not meeting those obligations, and when the stay is vacated the remaining money is paid to the landlord. Repair-and-deduct is a different remedy with its own rules. This is N.Y. RPAPL § 755.

WhatNew York
Rent withholdingDeposit rent with the court clerk to stay the case
How it worksThe rent is paid into court or an escrow account instead

What the statute says

“The tenant or respondent shall not be entitled to the stay unless he shall deposit with the clerk of the court the rent then due …”

Quoted word for word from the section’s text.

Source

N.Y. RPAPL § 755

Read the statute in the New York Consolidated Laws (New York State Senate): nysenate.gov.

Checked against the statute on November 15, 2026.

This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.

How Seayora uses this rule

Every deadline on this page runs from the tenant’s notice. A repair request filed in Seayora keeps the date it was made and every update after it, on the website and both phone apps, so owner and tenant are working from the same date.

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